Creating a Joint Departmental Committee:

A Guide to Getting Started

During the most recent labor negotiations, the University and the Unions representing service, maintenance, clerical and technical employees negotiated an unprecedented eight year contract. We did this with the belief that a long-term agreement would give us the time necessary to make significant improvements in the way that we communicate and work together, and to create operational excellence.

We are committed to creating a strong partnership between labor and management that will increase productivity, improve customer satisfaction and enhance employee satisfaction.

One of the ways we will achieve these improvements is through the creation of labor-management committees in departments. This document is intended to help departments learn more about Best Practices and to provide guidance to those interested in creating a Joint Departmental Committee.

What are best practices?

The Agreements negotiated between Locals 34 and 35 and Yale University call for the creation of a Best Practices Initiative, a mutually cooperative effort to improve the University’s overall quality, efficiency and workplace culture. Best Practices are intended to:

improve customer service
increase productivity through the design and implementation of best practices and their associated targets and metrics
prevent and resolve conflicts
improve employee satisfaction
discuss ongoing issues and changes in the workplace
promote positive labor-management relations

Who oversees and supports best practices at Yale?

There is a Policy Board that sets the direction for best practices efforts and labor-management cooperation throughout the campus and provides general oversight to projects. Current members are: Laura Smith, President, Local 34; Bob Proto, President, Local 35, Lloyd Suttle, Deputy Provost, Undergraduate and Graduate Programs, and John Pepper, Vice President for Finance and Administration.

To encourage and support initiatives at the department level, there is also an Initiative Steering Committee with ten members: three Local 34 representatives and two Local 35 representatives appointed by the Unions, and five management representatives appointed by the Vice President for Finance and Administration.

A Communications Committee, with representatives from the Unions and management, works with departments to share information on best practices and serves as a link between the Initiative Steering Committee and the departmental committees. Another labor-management team, the Training and Education Committee, works to support the departmental committees with facilitation and training.

What is a Joint Departmental Committee (JDC)?

A JDC is a labor-management team that works at the department level to improve productivity, strengthen employee participation to achieve operational excellence, and explore new ways of working together to improve services and customer and worker satisfaction.

The Union Agreements provide some examples of how JDCs can achieve these important goals: by working out resolution of local work system problems; attempting to prevent group grievances; discussing significant operational or organizational changes prior to implementation; encouraging changes in work practices and management practices that substantially increase worker productivity and that promote positive labor-management relationships.

JDC agendas are formed jointly by the Unions and management, and they provide a place where labor and management can work together on areas for improvement they mutually identify.

Who decides the membership of a JDC?

Management chooses its participants, and the Unions choose their participants.

How do we know how big to make the committee?

It’s entirely up to the JDC to decide. You may want to start with four or five members chosen by management and four or five chosen by the Unions. You don’t need to have equal numbers. Keep in mind, though, that it’s often hard to have a working group when the size of the team gets larger than 10 or 12 people.

When you start, you should ask the Initiative Steering Committee to assign a facilitator to your JDC. Facilitators can get you started with such activities as team-building; setting team agreements for conflict resolution, meeting rules, time commitments, and developing initial goals.

As you begin to work on initiatives, you will likely want to bring in others who are expert in a given area, or you may want to form some smaller working teams to work on a particular assignment. What you’re working on will generally be a good guide regarding whom to invite. Again, it’s whatever works for you, by mutual agreement of the JDC members.

Don’t think your JDC has to do all the work. You may choose a project that requires the participation of many people in your department; they don’t all have to be on the JDC.

How often do we meet?

That’s entirely up to you as a committee. Some JDCs have scheduled regular meeting times to accommodate their work and all the other work of the department.

Do we meet during work time?

JDCs and any associated subgroups they form will normally take place during work time in departments.

The University will provide reasonable release time without loss of pay for a reasonable number of Union representatives and/or committee members, subject to the approval of their supervisors and to operational needs.

Do Union leaders have access to employees in the workplace for JDC purposes?

Generally, look for reasonableness when Union-designated representatives need access to bargaining unit members to discuss JDCs, without interfering with the other work of the unit.

If questions arise about access, you should discuss the problems and attempt to work them out among yourselves at the JDC.

If you find that you can’t reach agreement, contact a member of the Union leadership and/or your Labor Relations representative. If problems continue, contact members of the Policy Board.

Who oversees and supports the JDCs to help them succeed?

Members of the Initiative Steering Committee are eager to serve as a resource to support your success. Together with the Communications Team, they will make sure you have everything you need to begin a JDC successfully, including helping you get trained and providing a facilitator to keep your meetings on track. To contact them by phone or email, see below.

If there are major problems in implementation, or serious issues arising during your meetings, contact a member of the Initiative Steering Committee or Policy Board.

Are you ready to form a JDC?

It is critical for success that every JDC has the strong support of both management and the Unions. You’ll need to make sure that the department leader and his or her designees, along with the Unions, feel that the timing is right and that you have interests that you want to work on together.

It is important that the department director or chair understands and supports the work of the JDC. Management may want to meet to discuss readiness and initial ideas to work on and choose representatives for the JDC before getting together with the Unions.

Similarly, the Unions will want to meet with bargaining unit members to discuss best practices and JDCs and to assess readiness to begin a JDC. They will usually want to choose representatives for the JDC and discuss initial ideas to work on before getting together with management.

They’ll have open discussions with both management and Union members, separately or together, to help you gauge readiness.

If we feel ready, what do we do next?

When both management and the Unions agree they are ready to form a JDC, they should contact any member of the Initiative Steering Committee.

The Initiative Steering Committee works to identify areas where JDCs can be started and supported. It approves new JDCs by consensus among the Initiative Steering Committee members, subject to final approval by the Policy Board, and works to ensure the continued success of the JDCs.

The Initiative Steering Committee members will discuss your readiness and assess how they can be most helpful to you. They’ll also ensure that your JDC has the full support and training to get off to a good start. In most cases, the Initiative Steering Committee will assign facilitators to help the JDCs get started.

The next step is training. This sounds like it’s slowing the process down, but it actually gives you the skills necessary to build a successful team. Getting to know each other well, learning how to work together as a team, and developing ground rules for meetings are all critical to success. A joint Training and Education Committee will develop and coordinate best practices training and facilitation.

If we’re not ready to form a JDC, where does that leave us?

There are many opportunities to improve the way labor and management work together at Yale to strengthen the workplace culture, increase productivity and create operational excellence. Regardless of whether you are ready to form a JDC or not, we encourage you to work together on the many challenges and opportunities that you face in your department.

What’s the connection between bonuses for Local 34 and JDCs?

The Initiative Steering Committee and Policy Board will create standards for awarding bonuses of up to $500 to Local 34 bargaining unit members who have demonstrated significant, measurable operational improvements in departments.

These bonuses will be given as a way of rewarding measurable productivity improvements created through the work of a JDC. A JDC may or may not choose to make recommendations for bonuses. If a JDC seeks to award bonuses, it must make it recommendations to the Policy Board.

The Policy Board will review and have final approval on the awards. Since the JDC program is so new, the members of the Policy Board have decided that they will not review any recommendations for bonuses prior to December 2005.

When you start a JDC, begin to develop specific, measurable targets for productivity and operational efficiencies, so you can demonstrate the results of your work and measure progress towards goals along the way. A JDC facilitator can help you with these goals and measurements.

Why is best practices particularly important today?

We are adopting many new business processes. Best practices will help us to design, adopt and sustain these processes in ways that will achieve better outcomes as measured by customer and employee satisfaction, as well as productivity and cost effectiveness.
We have a major opportunity create a more productive union-management relationship. Best practices structures can establish an environment of listening, mutual respect and accountability, and of sharing knowledge and experience, all for better results. They can help to break down old patterns of behavior in how union and management communicate and approach important issues.
We are challenged today by the economic environment to continue to invest in the programs necessary to maintain Yale’s premier educational and research status while operating with a balanced budget. The results achieved by best practices will help us accomplish that.

Who oversees best practices ?

A Policy Board sets direction for best practices efforts and labor-management cooperation throughout the campus and provides general oversight to the Departmental Committees and Innovative Work Systems Initiative projects described below. The Board meets at least monthly and reaches decisions by unanimous agreement. Policy Board members are the Presidents of Local 34 and 35, the Vice President for Finance and Administration, and the Deputy Provost.
A Steering Committee reviews proposals for local demonstration and pilot projects and may make proposals or actively solicit them. Projects are chosen by consensus, subject to final approval by the Policy Board. The Steering Committee consists of five labor and five management representatives.

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How do we get started?

How you get started in your labor-management effort is all-important. If you get off to a bad start, the effort will stall. Here are some key steps for getting off on the right foot:

1. First, Ask for Help!

There are resources available to help you get started the right way. If you contact the communications team, they will put you in touch with the right people to help you create a successful labor-management team. Members of the Policy Board or Steering Committee can meet with you to discuss how a successful best practices team works, and they can also provide you with the training or facilitation that you may need--everything from the basics of how to run a labor-management meeting with a joint agenda and active participation, to more advanced facilitation and group process training. We're here to help!

2. Agree on your starting points:

Who will sit on the committee?

Are there other people who might be asked to attend?
By mutual agreement, you may want to invite others to pariticpate, formally or informally, if you think they'll help your work. Examples might include a director, chairman,or steward.

How big should the team be?

The size can be whatever meets the group’s needs, although too many or too few members slows progress.

How often should we meet?

Meetings are meant to be informal, with joint agendas, and will normally take place during work time in departments.

Who will maintain and distribute a written record of the meetings and progress?

You might want to rotate this assignment among group members. Don't feel you need to record every last detail--just capture the main topics and action items.

3. Get to know one another personally.

Candidly share any concerns that you have about the undertaking. Be honest about things that have happened in the past that could affect your ability to succeed, but be willing to put them behind you.

4. Establish a common vision and goals for achieving that vision.

Write a mission statement. Know where you want to end up and how you will measure your progress. If you're developing a JDC, create an inventory of problems or issues the JDC can address. If you're proposing an innovative works systems project, think about how your project will create substantive change in organizing and managing work.

5. Establish how the members will work together.

Each team should develop a set of everyday rules that fit its own needs. What are the governing rules, the “rules of the road?”

You might want to consider the list of rules that the Policy Board and the Initiative Steering Committee use to govern themselves. Here's what they agreed upon:

Purpose: What Do We Want to Achieve?

Make a lasting contribution to the good of this place

Be relevant to everyone in the Yale community

Bring a sense of responsibility, urgency, and opportunity to achieve a jointly-owned goal

Create a sustainable process that doesn't depend on individuals

Values: What Will Make Us Successful?

Putting on our broad, University-wide hat

Choosing what we work on wisely

Setting realistic short and long-term goals

True joint problem solving

Having a united front to the Yale community

Rewarding learning whether because of a negative or positive

Each of us having a full commitment to succeed

Operating as a team; no rank

Compromise without loss of integrity

Trusting each other

Having a “no gotcha” mentality

Accepting failure or bumps in the road; staying together

Working to sustain enthusiasm--have some fun!

6. Establish clear priorities, plans of action, and timetables.

Agree on assigned responsibilities. Determine what results you want to see and at what point in time. Keep a written record of your progress.

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How to choose an initial project

Start small. Choose initial projects that can actually be solved by working together. Early success builds mutual trust. It is important to build a foundation of success before taking on larger projects.

Resources to help get started

Contact the Best Practices Communications Team.
Obtain support and advice from the Joint University/Union Labor Relations Training and Education Committee, which will be functioning in the near future.

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Watch out for pitfalls

Take time to get to know each other well enough so you can have honest conversations. Building trust is paramount.
Listen to each other for understanding. Communicate honestly and openly.
Be sure everyone agrees on the vision and goals that will represent success. Keep in mind that this is a process aimed at achieving consensus.
Be prepared for setbacks along the way. Recognize them honestly, if and when they occur; don’t let them derail the project. Avoid any “Gotchas!” that really mean “I knew you’d drift back to past behaviors.” One way to ensure failure is to polarize issues into “labor” problems or “management” problems. Give each other the benefit of the doubt.
Hold yourself accountable as a team member for achieving the goals: excellence and significantly improved results.
Recognize this is a work in progress: the opportunity and need for continual improvement will be present.
Patience and urgency can sometimes seem to be in conflict. Finding the right balance is essential for producing the best results.

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